Our paper “Metal Powder Manipulation using Air-Coupled Ultrasound”, presented at the 2025 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), has now been published.

This work investigates the feasibility of using air-coupled ultrasound to move dense metal powders such as those used in Powder Bed Fusion – Laser Beam/Metal (PBF-LB/M). While previous studies have demonstrated ultrasonic enhancement of powder spreading in contact setups, it remained unclear whether static, high-density metal powders could be manipulated through air.

The presented experiment employs a 40 kHz phased array emitting short ultrasonic bursts onto aluminum, 316L steel, and copper powder heaps. Surface profilometry before and after excitation reveals measurable displacement in all cases, with aluminum showing the largest volume shift.

These findings demonstrate, for the first time, that air-coupled ultrasound can induce movement in metallic powders—highlighting a promising pathway for novel process innovations in additive manufacturing.

Find the paper here: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11201440/